Yearly Archives: 2011

Sharing Day, Tattoo Edition

While perusing this "50 Awesomely Nerdy Tattoos" article, I got to wondering what you all would want if you were forced at gunpoint to get a tattoo (or even just asked nicely!) revolving around something nerdy or geeky.

I don't personally have any tats, as I am too fat, too hairy, and too old to have it make sense. Although I have considered getting hair tattooed on my head, that might work. Not, like, long hair, but stubble, you know, so it would look like I had just shaved my head and it was growing back stubbly, only all over instead of just in the horseshoe shape.

But I digress.

Because I like to get to know you folks better, I like to have these "Sharing Days" every now and then where I ask a question and you answer in comments. This time around, it's:

If you had to get a tattoo on a geeky or nerdy theme, what would you get and where would you put it?

In return, if you wish you can ask me whatever you like and I'll try my best to give an answer. Note that by no means are you required to ask me something in order to answer the question at hand, but that if you do want to ask me something, you have to have answered the question. I'm exhausted just typing that.

I look forward to hearing your replies!

Oh! And my favorite one from that site is probably this, because I could totally see typing away and then catching a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye and instantly being all WHOOOSOSOOSH and I AM YOUR FATHER and FEEL THE POWER! Anything that increases the entropy of the universe is AOK in my book (clearly).

Edited to Add: Geez, I forgot to answer the question myself! I would probably get a medium-sized Superman insignia on my right deltoid (such as it is). Although that light saber tat on the finger is pretty rockin' ... Only I'd get one on the outside of each index finger so I could finger-fight myself.

Life at Hustler High

(Via ComicallyVintage.com.)

Nothing like a good drunken revelry

Previously on "Lone Wolf", we decided to fill ourselves with righteous fury and pursue the scurrilous dogs who so rudely treated us after our "rescue" at sea. And so we returned to the wharf, hoping to find their fishing galley (and, presumably, the villains themselves).

Huzzah, we've gotten some of our lost booty back! I hate it when my booty gets lost. Although, apparently in this town they have an entire street dedicated to it ...

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Dude, seriously, buy a helmet already

(From "Big 3" number 4, 1941.)

META: Save issues?

I've heard disturbing reports from AMS, Hammerknight, and a couple of other folks that after a Flash update, they lost all their saved files and now can no longer save characters between sessions. Has anything like that happened to you? If so, could you please post in comments with your browser version, operating system version, and Flash version (which you get by right-clicking on the HM3 app and choosing "About Flash Player" from the flyout)?

I'm really hoping Adobe didn't change something about the way they save Flash cookies in this latest release ...

This is a good time to remind you that, as with any piece of software, you should back up your characters on a regular basis to avoid catastrophic loss. There are now three ways to do so:

  1. Save the text string of your character to a file using the "Save as Text" option in HM3 and pasting the results into Notepad or Text Edit or Word or an email or whatever you like. This is the most secure.
  2. Find the hmcharacters.sol file on your hard drive and copy it into a directory you control. You can also make a backup copy of the .SOL files that Flash uses to save your guys. I’ll probably keep the old (current) alpha version “live” for a little while under another name (so heromacine3a.swf or something). If I do that, then you should be able to go in and change the directory name where these .SOL files are kept to that name and still be able to access your characters:

    The saved Flash shared object library files (.sol for you Windows users) are LIKE cookies, but they are NOT actual cookies. They are not stored in the shared internet data files and will not be deleted if you erase all your cookies. You can only remove them by right-clicking on the movie, and going to Flash Settings, removing them there.

    In Windows it's at %AppData%MacromediaFlash Player#SharedObjects\www.heromachine.comhm3 where %AppData% is a variable leading to your browser.

    On a Mac they are in HD / User / / Library / Preferences / Macromedia / Flash Player / #SharedObjects / / http://www.heromachine.com / hm3 / heromachine3.swf / hmcharacters.sol

  3. Export your images as JPGs or PNGs. This doesn't enable you to live-edit them any more, but at least you'll have the images.

I hate to think of people losing their hard work, and I'm trying to do a bit of digging to see if anything changed with the latest Flash Player update or what.

Edited To Add: Sure enough, Adobe has implemented much easier methods of deleting "Flash cookies", which is what the HeroMachine save file is. You can get the details here. AMS identified the specific setting you need to change if you don't want all of your saved characters to be wiped out the next time you close your browser after installing the update, at least in Internet Explorer:

Is a male cougar a mougar?

When I imagine what a male cougar would look like, a beefy 1970s mustache ranks high on the list, along with a stout midsection and a grandiose sense of self-worth. Luckily, those intuitions were confirmed and expanded on by witnessing the sartorial and sexual magnificence of Superman's arch well-known completely forgotten nemesis, KING Cougar!

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Super Hero Philosophy 101

(From "Big 3" number 4, 1941.)

Poll Position: Barbarian vs Drow

I realize I will get hammered for the undisguised pandering of this question, but I don't feel well and Myro will yell at me if I don't get my post of the day done, so here it is:

{democracy:188}

First of all, let's make clear that we're talking about Conan from the great Robert E. Howard novels, not the gap-toothed philanderer of the Hollywood version. And we're definitely not talking about Conan O'Brien, who aside from the momentary stun of the hair-whip would be largely defenseless against Drizzt's teddy bear, much less the Drow himself. The main points for me are:

  • Drizzt has access to Drow magic, yes, but Conan is used to dealing with magic-users -- he has them over for lunch. As the main course.
  • Drizzt has a magical panther, but Conan has killed too many magical constructs to count.
  • Drizzt is a cultured, albeit outcast, citizen of an advanced if depraved civilization. To Conan, being civilized means giving the other guy a chance to see your sword before you bury it in his guts.
  • Drizzt is lithe and athletic, a ninja to Conan's bruiser.

Which means this is a toss-up for me. Who would you pick?

Quick, to the Bat Clapper!

(From "Big 3" number 4, 1941.)

Caption Contest 101

With hearty thanks once again to Glenn3's "Say What? Pictures", your challenge this week is to come up with the best replacement dialog for this comics panel:

The best entry (as judged by yours truly) wins the author's choice of either any item they like or any portrait to be included in HeroMachine 3′s final release, or a custom black and white “Sketch of the Day” style illustration (you pick the subject, I draw it however I like).

All entries must be left as a comment (or comments) to this post. Keep ‘em clean (appropriate for a late-night broadcast TV show), but most importantly, keep ‘em funny! That might be a challenge given the nature of this week's panel, but I'm sure you can pull it off. So to speak.

This week we have a cap of no more than five (5) entries per person, so make 'em your best!